Halliburton Tried to Shaft Its Own War Heroes

A Senate panel investigating U.S. military contractors Monday unveiled a letter sent from Halliburton subsidiary KBR to a former employee that sought, under the guise of awarding a medal, to waive the company of any liability for the infamous Good Friday Massacre, in which six Halliburton truck drivers were killed and others injured while delivering fuel in Iraq.

The letter notified former truck driver Ray Stannard that he would "most certainly qualify" for the Pentagon's Defense of Freedom medal, an award created in the wake of 9/11 to recognize citizens injured while aiding the military. But as a condition of releasing Stannard's medical records to the military, the letter asked him to sign a form that would absolve KBR and the military "from any and all claims and any and all cause of action of any kind or character, whether known or unknown, I may have against them."

"That is almost unbelievable to me that a company would do that," said Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. Democrats held the hearing on their own, arguing Republicans who control the Senate have shown little interest in pursuing the matter, the Houston Chronicle reported.